Brendon Wilson: Black Dog Tavern owner fears he could lose liquor licence after allowing 21-year-old to drink from yard glass

The owner of a controversial country pub fears he could lose his liquor licence after allowing the “Kiwi tradition” of a 21-year-old drinking beer from a yard glass.

The Black Dog Tavern is found down a country road off State Highway 2, in the small rural Tararua community of Makotuku, near Dannevirke.

Pub owner Brendon Wilson joined the Afternoons team to discuss. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed Be
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Very good afternoon to you. So we're talking about the
owner of the black dog Taving. His name is Brendan Wilson,
and he is worried that the liquor licensing authority is
coming after him after a twenty one year old twenty
one year old, i should say, consumed a yard glass
on the in the venue. So the question I've got
for you is there should there be some traditions in
New Zealand that are sacra sants, something like drinking a

(00:38):
yard glass on your twenty first birthday, and perhaps a
bit of common sense employed in a situation like that,
rather than the liqual licensing authority just taking a box
and saying no, that's against the rule. What do you say? Oh,
one hundred and eighty ten eighty is the number to call,
and on the line we've actually got the owner of
a black dog, Tavin, Brendan Wilson. Brendan, very good afternoon

(01:00):
to you. Thanks very much for having a chat with us.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
No, thanks, so thanks for contacting us.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
So tell us what happened on this particular night. I
take it was a twenty first that was being celebrated
and the tradition of a yardy came out and everybody
had a good time in that situation. Just just set
the scene on what actually happened.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, perfect, No, you've summed it up to a tea.
We're a small country pub that's not too many people
know about and you just get asked to do a
yardy and just didn't think too much of it, to
be honest.

Speaker 4 (01:29):
Do you have yard glasses in the cabinet?

Speaker 3 (01:33):
No? But we do now because he actually left us.
He said do you want this? And I said, roh,
why not?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
So yeah we do now, So how did the liquor
license authority find out about it? What happened here? Did
you get dobbed in? Or what's the story?

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's on Facebook right, Apparently we got dobbed in and
that's what they said to us, and it was a
complaint and yeah, we got in trouble a little while.
That copped a little bit of flat for burning the
worst book in the world, and so whether it was
a link with that, I'm not sure.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
So so what what what's the status at now? So
you're and what does it mean to be under investigation. Brendan.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Look, I guess they go through their processes. I've contacted
them by email and by phone, but I haven't heard
any information back. And so what do you do? You
just sit on your thumb and wait.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
So so when someone who has completed a yard glass,
I guess the argument would be, there's a good chance
that they are over the limit now and can't drink
in the pub anymore.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Right, Well, nobody. Look, if we like, we follow the rules,
and if we start to see people get into that stage,
we sort of go, hey, hey, hey, But most people
who are in that mode are with a group of
their mates. You know, they're getting driven. Then we're not
about to let them drive. We're not.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, So so is there not a loophole? But is
there a way that that this has been traditionally done
that that bar owners don't get into trouble for it
or is it just you know, I say that is
of been many pubs where a twenty first has been
celebrated and your yard glasses come out and sometimes you know,
the party goers bring their own beer and it's all
been agreed with with the pub owner. But has it

(03:18):
been against the rules all along.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
So the rules are to consume that amount of one
sitting is considered. Haven't you got a dangerous or reckless
or But you know, all they've got a picture of
is an empty yard glass. Whether he've drunk heineken zero
was another matter. I mean, did he.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
That would be hard to do two point eight liters
of that?

Speaker 4 (03:50):
But I get I get, I get your point. It's
about two point seven five leaders. So did did how much?
Did how much do you pay for two point seventy
five letters of beer your tavern?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
It's fifteen dollars a jug? So, which is.

Speaker 4 (04:06):
Well, that's that's good, very good value.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
You wouldn't get that.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeah, you're playing fifty bucks of jog up here.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, so what's the situation now, Brendan. You've just got
to wait until they do their investigation and see what happens.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Look, I'm hoping for amalgamation in some form. So you know,
you've got to look at licensing authority there with someone
who's I would dare say, by the time you take
a car and a wage, there's one hundred thousand dollars.
You could probably visit the establishments in terror and Hook's
Bay or terror or at least and within a few days,
and so maybe amalgamation of some councils will sort some

(04:47):
of that out. You know, maybe it's bored them on
their behalf wanting to make a job for themselves. I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, Brendan, thank you very much having a chat with us,
and all the best with that.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
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